Phoenix Recap: Denny Hamlin finished 19th in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, battling a loose #11 FedEx Office Toyota throughout the 312-lap event won by Kevin Harvick. Hamlin was unable to make up spots on a handful of late-race restarts, with his car working better on longer runs, despite multiple changes to the chassis on pit road called by crew chief Darian Grubb. Harvick crossed the finish line 0.489 seconds ahead of runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr., followed by Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon. Hamlin — the 2012 spring Phoenix winner — started 12th and moved into the top-10 before a competition caution on Lap 35. Following the ensuing restart and green flag pit stop on Lap 110, Hamlin fought the car’s handling for the remainder of the event. The finish dropped Hamlin to eighth in points following Phoenix, just 22 markers behind leader Earnhardt Jr. after two of 26 regular season races.

Las Vegas Preview: The Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s 400-mile event on the 1.5-mile oval. Hamlin is making his ninth career Cup Series start at Las Vegas this weekend, owning four top-10 finishes in eight previous trips to the track. Hamlin started a career-best sixth in the event at Las Vegas one year ago, and ran among the leaders for the majority of the race, but a late pit road speeding penalty relegated the FedEx team to a 15th-place finish. Hamlin led three laps in the event won by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth.

Ontario Along for the Ride at Las Vegas: The FedEx Ground Ontario district will be recognized for outstanding service quality with its district code “ONTO” on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Ontario district, part of FedEx Ground’s North American operations based out of the Toronto hub, comprises the Ontario province as well as Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

HAMLIN CONVERSATION – LAS VEGAS:

What do you anticipate with the new rules package for the first intermediate race track on schedule?“I think you’ll see a lot more of what we got a glimpse of at Phoenix last weekend. Teams are still adjusting to the rules and Las Vegas will give everyone a good idea of where their intermediate program is. Obviously, it will help to get four hours of testing in on Thursday to adjust anything we need to for the race weekend. We learn every time we get on the track with these cars and this weekend will be another learning experience. Las Vegas is a fast track, and hopefully we’ll have a fast FedEx Camry to match.”

Joey Logano (No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford)· Three top fives, four top 10s· Average finish of 14.0· Average Running Position of 15.1, 10th-best· Driver Rating of 85.1, 10th-best· Average Green Flag Speed of 91.036 mph, 12th-fastest